Weekend wanderings - Northland

In the  midst of a great deal of goings-on, Roy and I take another weekend to explore more of all that New Zealand has to offer.  Having driven south last time we opt for a north-based adventure. Roy has some professional links he wishes to foster at the Kauri Museum at Matakohe which lies at the north end of Kaipara Harbour.  It's a couple of hours in the car, and as usual once we leave the more built-up bits we are soon in hilly countryside; more cows than sheep these days.

[We drove up to where it says Mangawhai Heads, turned left onto SH12, up to Opononi, 

turned right all the way over to Paihia.  Then later up to Kaitaia, by left-hand route,

on up to very top of Cape Reinga (on grey bit, now tarmac-ed), 

back down, and back to Paihia via the right-hand route.]

The Kauri Museum gets 3 stars in our excellent guide book.  We spend 3 hours in the company of Bet Nelley, the Director, who is delighted to show us round her extensive museum that tells the story of kauri trees/logging/gumdigging/furniture, and so much more.  There are also tableaux of early settlers to the area, with Victorian pianos, crockery, clothing et al.  It is a lovely, old-fashioned museum that has something for everyone.

[Marquetry piece of local scenes, using kauri wood.]

[Dresses loaned by locals, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, to a backdrop

of New Zealand birds, painted on kauri.]

If you're not familiar with the kauri  it is a majestic and mighty but slow-growing hardwood conifer, indigenous to New Zealand.  Trees can live for up to 2000 years, grow to heights of 50m or more, and have girths of over 15m! Just think of a forest of them. Much of northland was once covered in kauri forest (an area of around 1.2 million hectares, actually) - right up to the 19th century and the coming of the European settlers. Maori had used individual trees for making their waka (canoe) and building their whare (house).  But when the Pakeha came and saw the potential of these forests, they quickly devised ways of industrialising logging and manufacture.  Bad news for the kauri.  Catastrophic, in fact.

[The trunk of a kauri, currently being hydrated to preserve it.]

[A section of kauri.  Those are ordinary benches at the end; gives an idea of size.]

[An executive boardroom table, made from one piece of kauri wood.]

In recent years a vast underground forest of fossilised kauri trees has been discovered in the area around Awanui, 2 hours north of Matakoe.  It's known as the Ancient Kauri Kingdom; the trees have been there 50,000 years, and are all lying down in the same direction.  Was it a hurricane, or a tsunami?  No-one knows, but something extremely powerful caused the flattening of an entire forest of giants....

Kauri are now only felled strictly under licence.  But controversially a licence has been granted to China to dig out the fossilised trees, ship them back to China where they are turned into all kinds of products, and then returned for sale to New Zealand.  Apparently the loophole is that these are not living trees and are under the ground.  Roy wonders why unemployed southern Aucklanders are not relocated to do the job, cutting out the middle man. Think that might be even more controversial!

Gum, too, was discovered in vast quantities, usually buried under the ground (the result of trees 'bleeding' for decades from 'injuries' received over time) and used for lacquer, carvings, jewellery and other things.

[I just loved this piece of kauri gum.  A dog?  Or a seal?  What's your thought?]

[This bust of a Maori chief took 2 years to make.  Bet told us that the mere, 

the weapon he holds, has become less opaque over the 18 years she's been there.

The gum still lives.]

Today there are a few small patches of protected forest where kauri continue to grow, and after lunch we drive on up the west coast to the Waipoua Forest, to see for ourselves the two mightiest examples of kauri still standing.  I get very excited at the prospect, being something of a tree-hugger 'n' all.  I love trees, their shape, size, trunks, leaves, the very life of them.  I am not disappointed.

This is Te Matua Ngahere, the Father of the Forest.  He's 30m tall and has a glorious girth of 16.41m. He is FABULOUS!  But as kauri have sensitive roots, he is also about 20' away from human touch.

[Te Matua Ngahere]

Imagine how delighted I am, then, to find a kauri that abuts the raised decking path that winds through the forest.  This is one I can hug.  So I do.

[Probably around 800 years old, quite young by kauri standards.]

And then there's Tane Mahuta.  He is lord of the forest, the largest living kauri tree in New Zealand - 51.5m tall, 13.8m girth, believed to have been a sapling at the time of Jesus!

[Tane Mahuta.  The photo doesn't do justice to his size.]

Time to drive on to Paihia, still another 1.5 hours away.  Roy drives, I read regular snippets of history and anecdote from the guide book.  We arrive at our self-catered appartment, with our bags of food and general supplies, in time for sunset at the Bay of Islands.  We were last here in December, with our two daughters.  Not sure 'the Hut' and this swanky appartment have much in common though...

[Not a bad view from our apartment.]

Saturday, no rain, sunshine, and another long drive planned.  We are heading to Cape Reinga (3 hours away), via Kaitaia - where there's another museum to call in on.  Roy's museum has recently lent them a very special piece of taonga (treasure), and he wants to check all is well.  Well, it's there, but not yet interpreted.  That calls for a few emails on the spot.

The Te Ahu centre combines musuem with library, archives, cinema and civic offices.  It is the result of a collaboration between two public-spirited men who had a vision for this northern town, and saw it through.  The birds are godwits, who migrate annually in their thousands from Kokota, up near Cape Reinga, to Alaska.  They are special to Maori who believed that they returned to Hawaiki (the Maori spiritual homeland) to breed every year.  The floor depicts north island as the legendary fish pulled from the sea by Maui, Maori demi-god.  There is a break at the tail section to represent the view that Northlanders have, that the head (Wellington) can do nothing without the tail (Northland).  If only it were that straightforward...

 [Te Ahu centre.]

  

[A Maori bible, open at the book of Waiata - Psalms.]

And here's the loaned taonga.  It's known colloquially as the Kaitaia Lintel, though it's almost certainly not a lintel as it's been carved from both sides.  Maori know it as Tangonge.  It was found in a swamp to the west of Kaitaia early in the last century and, until this year, was housed since 1940s in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.  It is very special to the Te Rarawa iwi, who believe it has great mana (authority and presence) and is a symbol of their own antiquity.  It's believed to be 500-600 years old.

[Tangonge]

Then we drive on, up State Highway 1 which was only fully 'sealed' at the top end in 2009.  Cape Reinga is almost the northern-most point of New Zealand; certainly the most north you can get in a car, anyway, as Surville Cliffs, 3km more northerly, can only be reached on foot.  It's at the end of the Ninety Mile Beach (actually only 64 miles long), and is one of Maori's most sacred sites, for it's here that the souls of the dead slip down through the roots of an ancient pohutukawa tree that clings to the cliff side by the ocean, to make their way back to Hawaiki.  Maori know this as Te Rerenga Wairua, the departing place of the spirits.

[If you look carefully you can just make out the pohutukawa tree to the right of the rocky outcrop;

it's believed to be 800 years old, and allegedly has never flowered!]

[Cape Reinga lighthouse, now automated.]

[A rare photo of us both together.]

It's a long way to come to see the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, but we're glad to have made the effort.  This is a remote part of New Zealand.  The car radio doesn't pick up any stations; houses are scarce.  The countryside is varied, and beautiful, rarely flat.  Bush, pasture, sand dunes.

[I just love the peace and tranquillity of this view, sand dunes in the background.]

The journey back seems curiously much shorter.  We drive round the delightful Doubtless Bay, promising ourselves a return visit.  Roy cooks supper, and I watch the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 22-0!

The highlight of our journey home the following day is our acquaintance with the Hundertwasser loos at Kawakawa.  An extraordinary sight.  Functioning public lavatories that are also a glorious work of art by the Jewish Austrian architect-artist-ecologist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who made his home near Kawakawa (just south of Paihia). He believed that a lavatory is special as 'a place of meditation'.....  Quite.

[View from the main road. There are shops either side.]

[I think all loos should look like this.  I didn't have time to 'meditate', sadly....]

We eat our picnic lunch at the Wenderholm Regional Park near Waiwera, about an hour from home, sitting by the Puhoi creek edge, under the branches of a flowering flame tree, watching the oyster catchers...

[Roy, enjoying a cheese sandwich, sitting on a rock.]

[This is Couldrey House at the Wenderholm park (literally 'winter home'), now a museum.

  Sir Anthony Eden was invited to recuperate here after the Suez crisis and a double surgery.]

So, there you have our northland adventure.  Rather too long in the car, perhaps, but what a lot we have seen and experienced this time.   A bit of a marathon blog, I know.  Hope you've enjoyed exploring it through the photos and didn't find there was too much detail.

Can't wait for our next weekend wandering in October...

Weekend wanderings - New Plymouth

In the 8 weeks Michael is absent I allow myself 2 Sundays off.  We decide that our first weekend away (back in July) is to be in New Plymouth: it’s on the west coast, about 2/3 down north island – the left fin of the 'flounder', if you look at the map.  The small circle shown below is Mount Taranaki. 

Roy has been invited to attend the opening of an exhibition at the Govett-Brewster art gallery in the centre of town.  As ever we can mix business with pleasure.

It’s a long drive to New Plymouth – 4.5 hours or so – through beautiful scenic and occasionally rugged countryside reminiscent of both Scotland and the Lake District, once we get past Otorohanga that is, (about half way). The road weaves through gorges and mountains, cows clinging precariously to steep pastures.  Eventually we are in sight of the Tasman Sea, dark grey volcanic sand a noticeable feature along the beaches.

It’s windy, grey, and threatening rain when we arrive. This is a real pity, for New Plymouth nestles at the foot of the spectacular Mount Taranaki, which remains shrouded in heavy rain clouds throughout our stay. Nothing daunted we park and explore the town: it doesn’t take long.  But there is a good museum to be investigated - Puke Ariki (literally, ‘the chief’s/king’s hill’, though here it means ‘the place of leaders’), opened in 2003 - as well as a garrison church to wander around, and a piece of modern art to gaze at, curiously…..

[The new Puke Ariki building cleverly incorporates museum, library and visitor information centre]

[The original St Mary's church was opened in 1846; it became associated with 

British troops during the Land Wars of 1860-1880; 

for this reason many Maori refuse to enter even now.

You can just make out regimental flags and emblems on the walls.

It was consecrated as Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary in 2010]

[This is Len Lye's Wind Wand, a 'tangible motion structure' standing 45m high;

the red glass fibre tube is 200mm in diameter, and the head can bend up to 20m. 

It weighs a staggering 900kg, and has a red light at the top, 

that dances in the breeze....]

[Thought you might enjoy the colour of the sky.  This is where we parked our car.  

The sea is behind us and Puke Ariki to the left.]

That’s enough to keep us going for our first day, and we repair to our self-catered suite on a nearby hillside just on the edge of town, next to a field of cows.  It’s cold so we’re delighted to have a woodburner in our sitting room that even faces into our bedroom!  And a bath.  Joy of joys.

We awake to heavy rain.  Time for a leisurely cooked breakfast before our drive up the mountainside.  Mt Taranaki, or Egmont as it was originally named by the English, is big – 2518m big, to be precise.  It’s a volcano that has erupted and collapsed no fewer than 3 times; the last major eruption was around 350 years ago.  It remains very much active, though quietly so during our stay, thankfully.  [It is also the backdrop to the first Witi Ihimaera novel I read in January, The Parihaka Woman, the moving story of a gross injustice (one of many) suffered by Maori at the hands of British troops.  I have since read another 4 of Ihimaera’s books, and last Tuesday had the great fortune to sit next to him at a literary dinner :) ]

There are only 3 roads up the mountain, all on the east side.  We take the lowest one, Manaia Road, and wind our way up through native forest eventually emerging at the visitor centre, about 10 mins walk from Dawson Falls.  The rain cascades down the path and we are soon soaked but determined to see the Falls.  They are not particularly impressive, but nonetheless we feel pleased to have bothered.  And decide to buy waterproof trousers before our next weekend foray….

[Dawson Falls, named after Thomas Dawson, 

the first European to stumble across them.]

[Had to include this - if you look very carefully you can just make out the mountain

 in the rainy misty background....]

A quick visit to the new Rewa Rewa bridge to the north of New Plymouth, part of the extension to the coastal walkway that has transformed the pedestrian experience along the foreshore; then to view the Paritutu rock to the south (very sadly the scene of 3 lives lost a few weeks later), before heading home to wash and brush up before our evening at the art gallery.  

[The Rewa Rewa bridge the day we saw it]

[Not my photo! Taken by Ewen Cameron, botany curator at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The bridge, only the week before we arrive, Mount Taranaki clearly visible.]

The highlight of the new exhibition at the Govett Brewster is a large room full of old Singer sewing machines (all loaned by local NZ families) draped in national flags: it's called Nations, work of the artist N S Harsha.  This particular work was last seen by Roy in the Iniva gallery in London: he says it works better here.

[Nations, countries united by threads (not clearly visible), but striking to see.

We are all inextricably linked by our humanity.]

The following morning it continues to rain, copiously.  We pack up and leave, and then make the long journey back to Auckland, through the driving rain. 

Mount Taranaki will have to wait to have a proper introduction. So Haare Williams tells us; he is our kaumatua (wise and holy man) at the museum.  We have had a great break from the weekly rhythm of our lives, but it is time to return...

Next time - Northland :)